Convertible automobile-body.



W. C. HATTENDORF.

CONVERTIBLE AUTOMOBILE BODY.

APPLICATION FILED mu 3o. |911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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W, C. HHENDRF W. C. HATTENDGRF.

ONVERTIBLE AUTGMOBiLE BODY.

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1 ,269,929. Putenfed J une 18, 1918 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. Ziff? W HHTTENDORF WILLIAM C. HATTENDORF, OF SCHAUMBURG TOWNSHIP, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

CONVERTIBLE AUTOMOBILE-BODY.

Specification o! Letters latent.

Patented June 18, 1918.

Application led .Tune 30, 1917. Serial No. 177,899.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. HATTEN- Dour, a citizen of the United States, residing in the township of Schaumburg, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Convertible Auto1nobilcBodies, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to automobiles, and particularly to convertible bodies therefor, and thc general object of the invention is to provide an automobile body which may be readily converted from a touring car body into Aa light delivery body.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rear section which, when shifted into one position, forms the rear end Wall of the car and yvhich, when shifted into another position, forms the bottom ofen extension of the car, there being side walls .pivoted to the sides of said convertible end wall so as to be turned up to form the sides of the extension body and there being also hinged to said end wall, an end gate, which maybe turned up into a vertical position when the end wall is turned down to form the Hoor of the extension.

A further object is to provide means whereby an auxiliary top may be secured to the extension and provide means whereby an auxiliary bow may be secured to the side walls of the extension, this bow being formed so that it may be folded against said side walls of the extension when the extension is turned up to form the rear end of the body.

A further object is to so` construct the end wall that it will form a. receptacle for spare tires, inner tubes, etc.

Other objects are to improve the details of construction of devices of this character so that the various walls may be detachably engaged with each other to hold them firmly in position when folded or extended.

My 'invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein: l

Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of' an automobile body with my foldable extension disposed in its operative position;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View of the construction Illustrated in Fig. 1; i

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal fragmentary sectional view of the rear end of the automobile body showing my extension folded up to form the back of the automobile body, and showing the rear scat in place;

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the extension when folded;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective View showing the means for connecting the rear bow to one of the side walls 18;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentaryr perspective view showing the manner of connectin the other end of the rear bow to the other si e wall 18;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showlng the manner of connecting the end gate to the wall 15;

Fig. 8 is an inside elevation of the rear Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspectivev view showingone of the braces 19 and the pin whereby the brace is connected to the side wan 12;

Fig. 10 is a. pers ective view of a portion of the end gate an one of the latch bolts.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates the permanent body of the automobile, the side walls of which are provided with the rear door openings 11r and these side walls 12 at their rear upper corners are provided with perforations 13 for the purpose which will be later described. 1 Hinged to the bottom 14 of the body 10 is a member 15, which constitutes, when turned up, the end wall of the automobile body and which, when turned down, constitutes the iloor of the delive extension. This member 15 is preferablyri/ormed with a double wall, in other words, the member is hollow for the reception of Spare tires, inr ner tubes, etc., and the outer end is closed by means of a lid 16. The wall 15 is hinged at 17 to the bottom 14 and. the wall 15 has a width such that when the wall 15 is disposed in a vertical position, it will t between the side walls 12 and the outer side of the wall 15 will bear against the side walls 12 to make a nice fit on the outside of the automobile bod Hinged to the wall l5, on each side thereof, are the auxiliary side walls 18. Each of these side walls is provided on its inner face with a curved metallic strap 19, which extends from the outer forward corner of the side wall nearly to the opposite inner corner. This strap at its inner end is formed with a hinge knuckle 20 for connecting the side Wall to the wall 15. The side wall 18 is also provided with a knuckle 20 adjacent its forward inner corner, whereby it is con nected to the bottom 15. These auxiliary side Walls 18 are adapted to be folded over upon the wall l5, as illustrated in Fig. 4, or turned into angular relation thereto, as shown in Fi 1. Each ot' these metallic straps 19, at its outer end, is provided with an inwardly extending pin 21 which, when the side wall 18 is turned to a vertical position, passes througl'i the corresponding perforation 13. This pin on its outer end may be formed with an opening for a cotter pin 22, or any other suitable fastening means may be used to hold the pin in engagement with the perforation 13 in thc side wall 12. It will be seen that inasmuch as these auxiliary side walls 18 are hinged strongly to the Wall 15, that when this wall 15 is turned to a horizontal position, these strap irons 19 form braces holdingr the 'wall 15, which now forms the bottom of the extension, from depression and su porting this wall against any load whicli may be placed thereon.

The walls 18 adjacent their ends are formed with perforations 23 to receive the bolts of an end gate 24, which is hinged to the Wall 15. The end gate 24 is preferably formed in two sections hingedly connected to each other, as at 25, and each of these sections is formed with laterally projectable bolts 26 engaging the perforations 23.

The lower section of the end gate 24 is hinged to the wall 15 by laterally disposed irons 27, these irons being angular in form and having shank portions attached to the lateral edge faces of the wall 15 and angularly disposed portions 28, which are longitudinally slotted. The end gate is formed with laterally projecting pins 29, which are disposed within the slots 28, so that the end gate may be lifted and turned in over tho side walls 18, when these side Walls in turn are turned over the wall 15, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

For the purpose of supporting a top upon the extension body, I provide an auxiliary bow designated generally 30, which bow is formed with two sections 31 and 32, hinged to each other at 33, so that the'two sections may be folded over upon each other. The rear outer corner of one side Wall is cut away as at 34 and attached to the inside face of this side wall is a pin 35, which projects across this cut-away portion.

Rotatably mounted upon this pin is a clip 36, the shank of which is formed with a perforation 37 extending at right angles to the pin 35i. The extremity of the section 31 of the bow is reduced and passes th rough this opening 37 and this reduced extremity is formed with a shoulder 88, which hears upon the top of the clip 36 and is also formed with an opening 39 for the passage of a Cotter pin 40. The extension ol' the section 32 is connected to the other side wall by means o1' an angular iron fll having a vertically disposed perforation through which the extremity of the bow passes, thc extremity of the bow being formed with a perforation for the passa e of a Cotter pin. Thus the Section 32 may disconnected from the bracket or iron 41 so as to permit the section 32 to be folded over upon the section 31 and then the folded bow sections 81 and 32 may be turned downward into a position to lie against the inner face of the side wall which carries the clip 3G, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

In the practical use of this invention, when the, automobile is to be used for a touring car or other like purpose, the side walls 18 arc t rned inward against the member '15, the bow 30 being also folded over and turned inward and then the end gate 2 4 is lifted upward by reason of the slots 28 on the irons 27 and is folded inward upon the side walls of the bow. Then the member 15 is turned upward to a vertical position and operatively connected to the sides 12 so that the members 15, 18 and 24 together form the rear end of the automobile body. When it is desired to provide an extension for the automobile body, such asis used in delivery cars, thc reverse operation occurs. In other words, the member l5 with its attached parts is turned outward, the side walls 18 are turned upward and connected to the sidev walls l2 by means of the pins 21, the end gate turned upward and bolted in position by means of the bolts 26 and thus forms an extension of the automobile body.

It is to be understood that the side Walls 12 are formed with slides 43 to receive the rear side supports 44, these side supports being provided with members which will engage with said slide, these rear side sup- )orts carrying areal' seat 46 and the tool ox 47 and all the allied parts. Thus the whole rear seat with back rest, cushion, side upholstering and tool or cushion box may be set aside when it is desired to convert the body into a light delivery body and the rear scat, of course, is to be replaced when it is desired to convert the automobile into a five or seven passenger touring car. When the wall 15 has been turned to a vertical position, it will be seen that this hollow wall constitutes a vertically disposed receptacle for spare parts, such as spare tires, inner tubes, etc., and is closed by the lid 16. `This lid muy be held closed in any suiteble manner. i

It will be noted from Fig. 2 that the Walls 18 are supported upon str1 s 18, so that a. space is left when the wals 18 are turned downward, this space being' adapted to ree ceive the folded bow 30. The bow 32 is, of course, to carry a hood 32 which may be connected to the rearmost bow on the automobile body, in the manner illustrated in Fig. l, this hood thus forming an extension of the top. The side Walls 12 of the automobile body extend beyond the bottom, as

illustrated 1n Fig. 3, so that the member 15 will fold up within the side walls.

It will be seen that this construction permits an automobile to be readily converted, that no parts have to be added to or removed from the automobile body in order to secure such conversion, und that the conversion may be mede very quickly. It will also be' seen that by providing the bracing straps 1,9, that it is not necessary that the chassis of the automobile should extend rearward of the fioor 10.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. A vehicle body having u floor and permanent side walls, and e rear extension com-v prising a bottom wall hinged to the fioor of the body for movement from n vertical to n. horizontui position, and auxiliary side wells hinged lo ihe bottom wall to fold inwerd thereon, and supporting members on the inside faces of the auxiliary side Wells :for lgletachnbly connecting the auxiliary side walls to the pernmnenl' side wells, said inl-Ems extcnding'inwerrl from the outer for- Ward corner of the auxiliary side lwells tov the rear inner corne-r hrreo und being at taehed to said side walls und acting to sup port the bottom, when the bottom is in a. horizontal position.

2. A vehicle body having a. floor und per marient side wells and a rear extension therefrom comprising .a bottom wall hinged to the floor of the body and adapted to be turned into a vertical or :L horizontal position, Side walls hinged to the sides of said bottom well to fold inward thereon, seid side Walls at their outer forward comic/rs being provided with means for detachebly engaging the permanent side Walls, and un cmi gate hinged to the regir end of the bottom well and adapted to bc turned into a vertical position or be turned over upon the side walls when the lutter are folded flat against the bottom wnlL-nd means for detuchably engaging the end gute with the auxiliary side Walls.

,X vehicle body having a fioor und pernmncnl.- `fide wells, and a. rearward extension therefrom comprising e hollow bottom wall hinged to the floor of the body and open at its free end and adapted to contain sgmre v parts, a, lid for closing the open end o the side walls, and Ineens for holdin said' end gate in its gperative-position Sai end gute being form in two sections hinged to euch other. y

4. A vehicle body havin a Hoor and per manent sidewalls, and a oldable extension comprising a bottom well hingedly oon nected to the floor of the body adapted to be folded downward into parallel relation with the .door or to be turned to a vertical position, seid extension further comprising sides foldable upon each other and upon the hinged bottom` or ada ted to be disposed in a. vertical position to olm extensions of the side wells of the body, and means for engeging said side walls with the side walls of the body and holding the side Walls from lateral movement in either direction when so engaged. -n

5. A vehicle body having a, door und side walls, and a rearward extension comprising a. bottom wall hinged to the door of the body, auxiliary side 'wells hinged to the bottom well to foid inward thereon and having links for detaeheblv connecting` them to the permanent side we ls of the body, an auxiliary bow formed in foldeble sections, one end of the bow being pivotally connected to one end of the auxiliary side walls, the other end of the bow being connected to the other side wall, and e top section mounted on seid bow and ade ted to be detechably connected to the top o the eutomobile.

6. .Av vehicle body having a door and side walls and a. rear extension for said bottom eomprisin e bottom Well hinged to the floor of the body and adapted to be folded into e horizontal or vertical position, side Walls hinged 1.o the bottom wall to fold inward thereon, the side Wells being provided with means for detachably connecting said side walls to the permanent side .Walls of the body to thereby support the bottom, and. an end gate hinged to said bottom and heving limited vertical movement with relation to the bottom whereby seid end gute muy be folded over upon the side walls when the letter are folded over upon the bottom.

7. Avehicle body having a iioor and side walls and a rear extension for seid body comprising a bottom wall hinged to the fioor of the body, and side walls hinged to the bod to fold inward thereon, the inside faces In testimony whereof I heeunto aix my of t e side walls being provided with mexn-` signature in the presence of two witnesses. bers projecting beyond the inside edges of the side walls, seid members having laterally WILLIAM C HATTELNDORF' 5 projecting pins, said permanent Side walls Witnesses:

of the body being formed with perforations A. F. PofrTRATz,

into ywhich said pins project. Gmo. H. GOEDDEKE. 

